After former US President Donald Trump made the announcement regarding the previous US government attempts to meddle in India's elections, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Thursday attacked Leader of Opposition (LoP) Rahul Gandhi for being a "tool for foreign agencies" and joining global networks to weaken India's interests.
BJP IT cell head Amit Malviya went on to post a sequence of vintage clips, including some quotes by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, bolstering assertions that earlier US governments had meddled in world democracies, such as India.
Trump, in his address to a crowd in Miami on Thursday, questioned the Biden administration's spend of $21 million through USAID (United States Agency for International Development) to boost 'voter turnout' in India. He enquired, "Was it done to elect another government?"
The comments triggered a political tempest, evoking sharp reactions from Indian political quarters.
Amit Malviya seized on Trump’s statement, sharing multiple instances from Modi’s 2024 election campaign where he warned of foreign conspiracies attempting to meddle in India’s democratic process.
Additionally, Malviya posted a 2023 video of Congress MP Rahul Gandhi’s interaction with the Indian Journalists’ Association in London, alleging that Gandhi had sought foreign intervention ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
Then, in March 2023, before the 2024 Lok Sabha poll, Rahul Gandhi was in London, exhorting foreign powers—ranging from the US to Europe—to meddle with India's domestic affairs," said Malviya. "He teamed up with global networks seeking to undermine India's strategic and geopolitical interests, being a catalyst for foreign agencies."
The firestorm is about Trump's direct and sharp indictment of the funding priorities of the Biden administration.
Why are we spending $21 million on voter turnout in India? I suppose they were attempting to elect someone else. We must let the Indian government… This is an absolute breakthrough," Trump stated while speaking at the FII PRIORITY Summit in Miami.
The charges have again become a matter of political debate in India, with the BJP using Trump's comments to bolster its allegations of foreign interference in Indian elections.
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